


A Cruel Reality

by AYEstein



Category: Wizard101 (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Magic, Psychological Horror, Wizards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AYEstein/pseuds/AYEstein
Summary: The cruelty of the spiral can only be surmised in the view of a spectator. Apeiron, a lone boy, travels the spiral to search for meaning and overall reasoning behind the moral issues and values behind wizards. Join him as he blunders his way through the spiral wondering if the supposed Savior of The Spiral had actually done his job.





	A Cruel Reality

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the alternative reality of Woeful Calamity, a fanfiction made by RuGrimm! A great piece of work, you should definitely go read it if you can as it is currently a work in progress.

“Gran-Gran, Gran-Gran!” A giddy child spoke running up to his grandmother. His smile was infectious, pure, and bright. His grandmother, Gloria Krendell, had adopted him when he was a mere baby. Together they lived in the small quiet town of Olde Town, where they were often surrounded by wizards crowding the Bazaar that was next to their house. This didn’t bother either of them in the slightest, although there was something else that had often troubled them.

“What is it, dear?” Gloria chided the small child in front of her, he beamed as he reached in his pocket to take out a letter. 

“Look! Look! It’s a letter from the kind old man.” The child cheered with a boisterous attitude, his eyes full of gems as he watched Gloria take the letter and begin to open it. She pulled out a light fabric which was filled to the brink with ink which delicately formed letters that coalesced into words. Gloria began to read the contents of the letter privately in her own mind. A grim expression arose on her features, she looked down to the child who was anxiously awaiting the news. Gloria sighed, she didn’t know how to break it to the young child.

“I’m sorry, dear… It looks like Ambrose won’t be able to come over this week.”

“What? Why not Gran-Gran, he promised!” The child drew out the last syllable with quite the excessive hiss. Gloria snickered at his attitude and gently placed her hand on his forehead. She gently scratched the blue vibrant hair that had been covering his eyes. The child pouted in response to this, Gloria sighed seeing that he needed more of a push.

“Look Apeiron dear, Ambrose is a busy man, it won’t be long until he comes back. How about I go make you some crepes, would that make you happy?” Apeiron bounced up and down nodding, crepes was his favorite! He jotted across the hall quickly seating himself on the nearest chair. He looked expectantly towards his grandmother who simply chortled while entering the kitchen. Apeiron, being eager to eat food had to occupy his mind. Thinking about it, Apeiron remembered that when Ambrose visited they had also had crepes.

_____________________________________

"So, how has the young boy been doing, good I hope?" Ambrose inquired as his hands were entertaining themselves with his luxurious gray beard. They sat amongst themselves in a table right next to the kitchen, Gloria had just made crepes and Apeiron was currently digging into them. 

"Oh, he's been fine as of lately! My dear please slow down in front of guests-"

"Mhr-mm" Apeiron voiced with food in his mouth.

"Oh-ho-ho! You better slow down there young Apeiron, you could choke! My oh my how you've grown!”

“Yes, he has grown up quite a bit since then, haven’t you, dear?” Gloria said only for her response from Apeiron to be just an enthusiastic nod.

“Yes, yes… Anyhow.” Ambrose’s tone changed abruptly becoming serious, he gulped as he leaned towards Gloria and whispered. “His eye… has it been acting up recently?” Ambrose inquired of the lady only for her to frown and shake her head no. “Good, if anything happens you’ve got to tell me first, alright?” Gloria nodded a bit unsettled at the change in the atmosphere which Apeiron was horrendously unaware of.

“Now, now… Tell me, Apeiron, have you made any friends as of recently?” The young boy sat in silence for a moment only to shake his head no. Ambrose faltered in his speech and took upon a grim expression, that of concern. Gloria too, was displeased by the news, she had certainly hoped that Apeiron would’ve made some friends by now. “Why’s that?” Ambrose asked of the young child stalled in his happy enjoyment of gluttonous feeding and slowly looked up towards Ambrose.

“It’s too scary! I don’t like the way they look at me. Besides, they always say they’re too busy to play anyway.”

“I see, but you do sometimes play with them right dear?”

“Ya, but it isn’t fun, they don’t play nice, they cheat!” Apeiron pouted

“Well, then they’re not good friends at all! Now then, I must be heading out.”

“So soon Ambrose? You haven’t even finished your crepes.”

“Things are stirring in the spiral and everything has been dreadfully busy, but don’t you worry.”

“I’ll have them! You’ll come back to eat more, right! You promise?”

“I promise, you can count on it.” Ambrose affirmed receiving a big hug from the young child and a soft smile from Gloria Krendell. He made his goodbyes known as he left out the door. Apeiron also made his claim true and he finished both his and Ambrose’s crepes by the end of the day.

____________________________________________________________________________

Gloria returned from the kitchen carrying a nice plate of strawberry crepes, she quickly set it in front of Apeiron bringing him back into reality simply by the smell. Apeiron rejoiced as he dug into the plates forgetting his current train of thought; delighting at the feast that had been set before him. Gloria sat across from him and started to tell him one of her old stories.  
“Once upon a time there was a professor; a professor known as Malistaire! He used to teach magic right here in Ravenwood, in fact! He had a beautiful wife who was known across the city as Sylvia, a master of life magic in her time. But one day, she fell terribly ill, Malistaire had done his best to cure her, but it was too late… This illness, it put her in a very deep sleep, unfortunately one where she hasn’t awakened from today. Malistaire, in his grief sought power to bring Sylvia back and as such he put many lives in danger. But, one day, a wizard arrived and their name was Valerian, the savior of the spiral, as you know him today.” Gloria reached over to an album in the bookshelf next to the table, she presented a picture of Valerian to Apeiron. He looked young, happy, and there was somebody standing next to him, a girl with green hair, they both looked really happy, and it made Apeiron smile. “Valerian stopped Malistaire in the midst of his conquest, but the damage to our lands was great and we had difficulty recovering, but this was only the start, dear. Far more accursed events circumpassed, you remember the story of Morganthe, don’t you? But these two villains of our history pale in comparison to the group known as the Ministry! Ahh, but that’s enough for today my dear. You must be anxious to go out and play, don’t you? Go on now and have fun!”

Apeiron cheerfully nodded rushing towards the front door. It was at that time, that Apeiron ran out to meet the neighborhood kids. They weren’t particularly rejoiced to see Apeiron, but they reluctantly allowed him to join them in their game. A game that was known as “Wizards vs. Monsters” The kids actually had costumes for this game this time; somehow they had gotten through the stubbornness of their parents. The group of wizards were dressed as familiar figures, each of them adorning characteristics of Valerian’s group. A boy dressed in an outfit similar to Cody, another Valerian, another Angel, and so on and so forth. Yet, one of the girls dressed as somebody Apeiron didn’t know, it was that girl he saw in the picture. Who was she? And why hadn’t Gran Gran mentioned her? 

Apeiron was placed into the team of Monsters, of course, but at least this time he was in a team and it wasn’t unfair as it used to have been. He wondered why… They had a costume for him as well, it was a scary goat mask that they shoved on his head. Horns protruding on top of it and an evil, but casual grin plastered on its face. It didn’t smell fresh either, it smelt like it was rotting… probably from the sweat of Alice since she had to work in the pet shop with her grandma. The rules of the game were quite simple actually, much of what you’d expect from a kid’s game, monsters run away from the wizards and if you were caught you were out, but if a monster from your team happened to find the magical school that corresponded with your monster and tag you with it, you would be resurrected. These magical schools were usually just a piece of paper that was colored the school’s symbolic color. The wizards got to hide these papers from the monsters and they had to protect them while also catching you. Usually, one would be sent to guard one of the papers and the rest would seek. The monsters had to survive for five minutes to win, or capture all the elements. 

Interesting a game as it was, Apeiron had quickly gotten bored of it. Sometimes, the kids would neglect reviving him or the wizards would focus him down first. He got tired of it, so when he heard news of a carnival in Cyclop’s Lane he didn’t want to waste his chance and miss it. However, it cost money and his grandmother was already low on cash as it was. So, when Apeiron asked Gloria if they could go, she declined. The expression on her face looked almost as if she had stabbed a puppy when she refused his offer. It was only then that Apeiron came to the decision that he would sneak in at night. He was usually an obedient child who had always listened to his grandmother, but even his boredom had limits. Besides, he was tired of hanging out with his friends, it didn’t feel right. Even if he could just get a look at the sight he would’ve been satisfied. Having this thought process he began to prepare for the night with nervous excitement. Mentally, that is, Apeiron didn’t have much of a plan, but the guardsman of Wizard City were quite notorious for being incompetent, so when he snuck out the front door his shoes lightly putting pressure on the pavement in front of him, and the quiet tug of opening the front door, he felt relieved to find that the guard had already fallen alseep. With his small stature he was able to hide in the bushes and small confines of space. Once he felt safe in his hiding place he went to another, and another, and another until he finally reached the entrance to Cyclop’s Lane. Just a foreboding tunnel covered his vision with the dark eerie blackness of the night. Apeiron, however terrified, was still brave enough to move forward only so that he could see the carnival. Apeiron was disappointed, more so distraught to find that the attractions were dead and silent. In retrospect, he should’ve figured that would’ve been the case, but he was just a kid. 

Still, hiding behind a house on one of the sidewalks that lead to the carnival, he still admired the sight and he wanted to get closer. He wasn’t supposed to be here and that much was evident when Apeiron gave ear to a snarling noise. A murky, brisk, and grotesque growl aroused from behind him. It sounded like a worn out worker in the middle of Black Friday, and it was terrifying. Apeiron quivered and turned his back to face the threat. A top hat adorned it’s decrepit features and the smell reminded Apeiron of what he smelt from the mask he had worn. A ghoul had wandered out of that cave and had spotted him. Apeiron’s voice squealed as he forced his back against the wall of the stone house, tears quickly perked at his eyes and a fresh sob filtered out of his throat, his mouth gaped wide open. He wanted to scream for help, but his throat was parched and he was too busy deciding on which direction to run. A flash of a small yellow bolted to the left of the ghoul, Apeiron had decided to aim for the gate, but the ghoul had reacted swiftly and it growled in irritation as it chased after it’s small prey. 

“Go away, go away! I don’t like this anymore! I take it back, I t-take it-” Apeiron whined and sobbed as his small pace couldn’t compare to that of the gallant pace the ghoul possessed. Apeiron tripped on a stray pebble he had managed to get only a few measly meters away from the ghoul and with this mishap, it had caught up with the child. The child’s eyes looked up in fear as they smelt the breath of the damned ebbing from the Ghoul’s mouth. It opened its mouth wide ready to feast on the child, only for it to be caught off guard by a bright light, the childs’ third eye began to glow a bright yellow. The guardsmen had startled awake after hearing a child’s scream, rubbing the slobber from his mouth, the guardsmen quickly made headway into Cyclops lane only to be met with an unbelievable sight. In front of the fallen child was a troll who had just attacked the ghoul out of the blue, its club bashed the ghoul’s head in and the troll roared as it kept attacking the dead body of the ghoul. The child was screaming out of fear, unsure of what was happening and too afraid to open their eyes. The guard quickly took action, rushing forward his spear readied, he plummeted into the troll. The spearhead barely pierced through the troll’s thick skin and it grunted in pain. It raised its club and smacked the guard on the head, his helmet toppled to the floor and his brown hair became mudded with the color of blood. He roared as he pushed the spear further into the troll’s muscle, the troll began to cough out blood as it now attacked the spear on its chest, it broke the spear in half with one quick blow leaving the guard with only his bare fists. He looked towards the child who had its eyes closed and was sobbing. 

“G-get out of here kid! Hurry! Get a wizard, I’ll hold this thing off!” The guard tackled the troll with his entire body weight, the troll caught off guard by this dropped its club, and the guard made sure to put pressure onto its wound making it bleed faster. The troll retaliated by smacking the man’s arms, you could hear a few bones snap from the impact, but the guard continued his onslaught as he began to choke the troll, the troll flailed about, hitting the guards chest, arms, and finally his head. The guard felt dizzy after the blow to his head and he toppled to the ground unconscious. Apeiron looked worriedly at the scene the troll got up huffing, he looked over at its club, and began to move towards it. The troll picked it up seemingly barely able to lift it up. The troll maneuvered towards the guard and aimed it overhead, but before it could swing downwards Apeiron stepped forward in front of the unconscious guard.

“No! G-g-get away! G-go away, y-y-you big fat monster...” Apeiron’s courage voice dwindled around the end but he was able to make the troll hesitate for a bit, it softly lowered the club and walked away with no complaint. It's almost as if it had been in a trance the entire time, it stumbled away clutching onto its gaping wound fading away from Apeiron’s view. The child scrambled with the guards body, he tried dragging the guard, but he was too heavy. Apeiron started to silently sob, he slowly got up and ran to get help, he managed to find the guard near Triton’s Avenue and get him to come help. 

The next morning, Apeiron woke up to see Gloria Krendell silently reading a book, a chair seated next to his bed. She looked over at the drowsy child with a soft smile, yet there was a tint of seriousness behind it. 

“Dear, you’re lucky that you got out of that unscathed…” Apeiron nodded guilty of his crimes, he started to give Gloria a puppy expression, hoping his punishment would be too severe, but Gloria wouldn’t stand for it. She smacked him across the head with her book, Apeiron yelped in pain holding his head. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!? Honestly, going out to the carnival at night time…? If you really wanted to go that badly, you could’ve told me dear. I just didn’t think you’d go to such lengths…” Gloria sighed holding her face, particularly stressed.

“I-I’m sorry Gran-Gran I just wanted to have fun… I didn’t want to miss out…” Apeiron spoke honestly, tears filling up his eyes. He hugged Gloria who happily hugged him back, they both sat there in silence, the incident having never been repeated again…

____________________________________________________________________________

A few years passed, and Apeiron had grown of age to enroll into the Wizard Academy. He begged Gloria to allow him to enroll, she laughed it off happily agreeing. Apeiron readied himself to take the test, he just needed to cast a simple one pip spell, but that had proven difficult. He often resorted to asking advice from the town guards who shrugged and had him practice chanting out the symbol of the school he had chosen, myth. 

“Kid it’s taking ya quite a while, I can even tell the difference between the air and your fancy little symbol.”

“Eh?!? You’re still calling me a kid? I just need practice, alright.”

“If you’re sure that’s all it’ll take… By the way, how’s Gloria doing?”

“Huh? She’s doing fine, like always, why’d you ask?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I was just checking out of curiosity.”

“You’re more of a worrywart than I expected you to be, Price.” Price scratched his head nervously only to notice another wizard approaching them, seemingly ranting to his comrade as they walked.

“Honestly, what pretentious common folk! To complain about their own trouble with no regard to the people around them. I understand the urge to console within others for one’s suffering, but this has gotten to the point of absolute absurdity. Why are they complaining so much, anyhow? Criticizing a hero as if it were their duty to do so? This is the famine commonly known as Pride, how utterly tragic, wouldn’t you agree, Ragnar?”

“Oi just shut up will ye’? Here we can ask this wizard and guard ere’ for directions, you’ve already gotten us lost.” Isaac scoffed at Ragnar’s accusation, but knowing it was correct he didn’t retort.

“Who are they..?” Apeiron looked at the new figures, the one known as Isaac wore a tan suit, bowler hat, and black tie. His appearance screamed that of formality while his companion was less appealing. It was an eagle who had only worn blue shorts and nothing else, not even a shirt, not that he was really revealing anything.

“It’s Isaac… kid let me deal with them for the time being.” Price said as he went up to confront Isaac who stopped in his tracks, putting up a sly smile almost as if it were a front.

“Greetings, fellow mortals, I hope your day has gone pleasantly, for on such a sunny day great fortune should be expected. If this is an incorrect assumption, then I must bid my apology sincerely, for it was not my intention to sully one’s mood who has already been burdened. Regardless of that, I would like to kindly ask for directions. I hope we are not of any trouble.” Isaac said his mouth almost in perfect sync with his hands as they constantly moved fluently with his speech. His posture was always upright, almost as if anything that he had said, had a defined certainty and confidence behind it. Isaac’s brown eyes quickly scanned the person behind the guard. Apeiron noticed Isaac had caught sight of him and he immediately looked away avoiding eye contact. 

“My day is fine, thank you, uhh- where are you two heading?” Isaac frowned, not at Apeiron, but at the guard in front of him, his expression started to stiffen with anger. Ragnar sighed realizing the guard’s fatal mistake.

“Excuse me, I know that we’re all in a hurry in the passing of life, we find it temporal and thus we find the need to rush it, but did it really trouble you to not factor in the well being of the acquaintance in front of you? Nigh, you never considered our well being, for you didn’t ask if we were doing well, made no attempt to further our conversation. It’s almost as if you want to discard our presence as fast as possible, I find that very vexing indeed. Of course, it could’ve been a simple misunderstanding, but I find that we must be weary of all misunderstandings in conversation, so we do not have to always attempt to overcome said social hurdles. Do you disagree? I don’t know what your social cultures often demand, but I thought I had been granted a general idea, and yet you’ve infringed on one of those sacred pieces! It was a due right of me to point out this flaw, I don’t intend to be rude, especially with my rantings I often find that people blank off and stop and don’t listen. I also find that infuriating, why does it need to be this way, why can’t we engage in civility? We are equal, even if they’re differences in appearance or even strength, at our core we are the same. Individuals who seek the sole meaning of their own existence, I don’t wanna be burdened and I don’t wanna burden others, so please praytell, why have you infringed upon our rights?” Apeiron’s head started to rack with an intense pain, Price was silent as he fell to his knees, he could feel his head ringing. Ragnar took a hold of Isaac’s shoulders, stopping him from continuing his rant after seeing Apeiron and Price’s reactions. Bypassers who saw the scene seemed to glare at Isaac, it reminded him of how people often looked at him, but they- this person seemed to garner much stronger hatred from the people around him.

“Ay’ sorry about that. He often gets ahead of himself now and then, err’ we’d like to know where Colossus Boulevard is located.” Price slowly got up and pointed in the direction of the shopping district.

“I-It’s in that direction, take your most immediate right and it should be there, however you may need permission from the headmaster…” 

“Thank you very much, we’ll be on our-” Before Ragnar could continue Isaac stopped Ragnar and approached Apeiron. Apeiron started to internally panic, he didn’t know what to do, but before he could say anything to escape this encounter Isaac handed him a wand.

“W-what?”

“It is my due obligation to help a fellow mortal in need, try casting your spells with this, it should help. Now then, Ragnar! We shall head out into the unknown depths to experience new encounters and relish the livings of life!” Isaac proclaimed as he began to immediately walk in the direction of the “Shopping District” Ragnar following close behind.

“Tch, I don’t get why everyone compares him to Valerian. He’s nothing compared to the Savior of The Spiral… sure their power may be similar, but that personality-” The guard shivered just at the thought of it.

“B-but he gave me this wand…” Apeiron said looking at his new gift, it wasn’t anything special, just a simple wooden wand, curled into the shape of a small drill. The handle extended out making it easy to keep a grip on it. 

“Well- I’ll admit that the guys intentions seem to be in the right place… Go on kid, give the wand a new try, see what he did for ya.” Apeiron shrugged at his comment he tried weaving the wand like a pencil, drawing the symbol in mid air, it glistened brightly, and as he went to cast the spell the symbol crumbled into dust as if the ink had just splattered. Apeiron sighed at the outcome, but his expression was that of a brighter smile.

“Ho! Wow I think I just saw a firefly, you’re getting better at this kid.” Apeiron looked offended that his magnificent achievement was compared to a mere firefly, but Prince laughed as he patted him on the back. “Come on, you know I’m kidding, show me what it looks like in a week, I’ve got an idea to help you prepare for that enrollment test you’re so keen on.”

“I’m holding you to that, ya old geezer.” Price laughed as he shooed Apeiron off, Apeiron went back to practicing casting his spell.

____________________________________________________________________________

“So, what’s this dumb test of yours, geezer?” Apeiron inquired after having practiced for a week and a half. His facial features expressed that of pure unadulterated smugness that could rival that of Alexander The Great. Price chortled at the sight slapping his knees as he buckled down pointing at Apeiron. Apeiron’s face slowly shriveled into that of shame his confidence draining by the second.

“Sorry kid, but you can be quite the talented clown.” Apeiron scoffed blatantly offended by Price’s words, yet he bit his tongue and dealt with the damage he had just taken. “The test is quite simple actually, I just need you to defeat a troll, simple as that!” 

“A troll?” Apeiron shivered at the thought, memories flooding back to the time he attempted to venture into the carnival. 

“Ahh- don’t give me that look we both know you’re a big boy now! Aren’t you? Or are you still that little twerp I had to pull my arss to save?” Price grabbed Apeiron by the shoulders and turned him towards the direction of Cyclops’ Lane, the place where the trolls lived in animosity. Apeiron looked at Price with a concerned expression, but that didn’t help him much as he was pushed into the tunnel leading to their destination against his will. 

Apeiron’s dirty shoes skidded across the cement as they passed through the tunnel. Price looked around scratching his head, he finally caught sight of a troll laying on the ground sleeping. Price looked at Apeiron and motioned him to do the dirty deed known simply as an ambush. While tactical, it made Apeiron feel a sense of dishonor as he approached his vulnerable opponent. Sighing he brought out his wand and started to draw the symbol, the troll’s eyes slid open as it arose from its slumber. Groggy eyes and a complacent attitude made it unaware to the motives of the figure next to it. It wouldn’t be a few seconds until it took notice of the threat nearby, it raised its club in defense panicking as it saw the bright symbol glow. A wizard had just interrupted its morning nap and that made it slightly irritated, but that emotion was overridden by the fear of the unknown spell being cast. This troll has seen many encounters with wizards; they vary in results, some are evenly matched and others he has witnessed his neighbors getting absolutely obliterated. He had learned to avoid wizards at any cost, but his luck had doomed him fit to be a new target on the dart board. 

“Come on…” Apeiron whimpered as he hit his wand against the luminescent light after finishing the spell, a giant bat manifested from within the light and its giant tongue protruded outwards. The tongue flailed about almost as if it were looking for a lollipop to lick, the bat caught the noise of the troll grunt in fear and its tongue retracted as its mouth began to enlargen. Like a cannon shooting a cannonball a green ball of acid was shot at the troll, the troll barely managed to block it with his club which quickly disintegrated. The troll looked shocked by this revelation, defenseless it quickly fled the battle hoping that its foe wouldn’t chase after it. The bat dissipated into a shimmering light and Apeiron looked dumbfounded. Price smiled pounding his hand against Aperion’s back. Apeiron hacked out a cough as his poor youthful body was struck when it was off guard and relieved. Apeiron turned around to glare at a smiling Prince, but that glare quickly faded as Apeiron witnessed the glimmer in the guard’s eyes. It was that of pride, pride for his friend, or perhaps something more?

“Hohoho! Did you see the fear in its eyes? It looked like a firecat that had just witnessed a murder! HA!” Price embraced Apeiron as he laughed, pulling away after he was done he looked down at the boy. “Well then! I’d oughta take my insults back, you really did it kid! That’s a wizard’s strength if I’ve ever seen one! I think you’re fit to take the test, usually it takes kids two spells to take down a troll out here, but it only took you one. You should be proud!”

“R-right…” Apeiron flushed embarrassed by the mountain of praise he was currently receiving. He smiled with confidence after getting over his embarrassment and set out to talk to his caretaker, Gloria. Price escorted him out of Cyclops Lane and kindly set him off to his house Apeiron ran with a giddy gallop, his feet pounding against the rocks. He opened the door to see Gloria sitting on her rocking chair reading a book, she looked up and smiled at the boy who had just entered her house.

“Apeiron! Back so soon, hun?”

“Yup! You’d never guess what I just did.” Gloria smiled gently as Apeiron began to reminisce about his achievement. After Apeiron was finished Gloria closed her book, reaching out she snatched Apeiron up onto her lap.

“You know Apeiron, facing a troll was very brave of you! But promise me you won’t try tackling any challenges that are beyond yourself, okay? Don’t ever lose sight of your goal, my dear, but don’t let that goal blind you.”

“Yes Gran-Gran!” Apeiron smiled childishly

“Now then head upstairs and hand me some flour would you? I think it’s time for some crepes!” Apeiron cheered at the offer and quickly ran to go grab the ingredients. The day ended happily the two chatting at the dinner table eating crepes.

____________________________________________________________________________

The day of the test was here, the yellow capped boy now wore blue gloves outfitted in his yellow wizard attire. He paid his farewell to Gloria who responded meekly, the boy didn’t take notice of this as he left, he was too anxious for the upcoming test and he wanted results. 

“Oh, Apeiron my sweet don’t forget a raincoat.” Apeiron groaned as he reluctantly grabbed the raincoat from the rack next to the door and quickly sprinted off into the distance making headway towards Ravenwood. On his way he bumped into a familiar figure, the eagle groaned as it hit the floor, it grunted as it hastily got up to find the person responsible for the disturbance, but only for its eyes to land on the boy who had his hands over his head.

“Oi! Geesh watch where yer runnin’ bout’ pal. Can’t have ya bumpin’ into little meanie Isaac over yonder.” The eagle pointed to the blabbermouth behind him who was currently engaged in a lengthy conversation with another wizard. They seemed to be at each others teeth, but Isaac seemed to be winning perhaps due to superior debating skills or the fact that his voice was causing pain to the victim in front of him. The eagle turned around and smacked Isaac across the head, Isaac felt the impact as it had stalled his speech he turned around in anguish only to realize it was Ragnar who had done it.

“Ragnar! I find that you often have the best intentions whenever you interrupt me, but I must plea in the case of my misfortune! How could an understanding being such as yourself sully the advents of another mortal? Don’t you find guilt in such an aberration?!? Of course, I do understand you were only attempting to present disaster, but one can do that with words rather than violence. It reminds me of petty wars that are waged based on faulty information, flawed specks of reasoning to hold bar to justification. How unsightly a concept! But I digress in mercy for my fellow partner who seems to have quite the nasty temper on this day. If I incur it too much I might cause a rift, and in relationships rifts are often troublesome, gaps that are hard to overcome with mere brute force. They require a strategic approach that of which is often convoluted and is similar to the convoluted chaos that has caused war. The war of attrition among us noble mortals is often pitiful, I find it so miserable to live in such an existence where we tend to burden ourselves due to unsanctified anomalies of social interaction. Thus I hope to fix this issue one day, so what business do I need to attend to before I advance into such studies, Ragnar?” Isaac proclaimed loudly amongst the shopping district the residents quickly retreating at his mere sight and voice, the wizard prior that had garnered courage to debate against Isaac had now fled the scene. The only people remaining being the shopkeepers, Isaac, Ragnar, and the little boy Apeiron. 

Apeiron scratched his head in pain, getting up he quickly apologized to Ragnar and began to ran off only to be grabbed by Isaac. Isaac lifted Apeiron up by the collar and closely examined the boy once more, Apeiron looked uncomfortable and surprised that this man was able to pick up a decently heavy teenager. Ragnar sighed as Isaac finally put Apeiron down and began to speak this time much more quietly.

“I hope you find some luck in your future endeavors, as a fellow mortal I happened to find it fit to check on your livelihood. I only felt concerned after what had transpired prior to my rantings, although I know they can be quite dreary I really do urge you to listen to me now. The time has come for misdeeds to be brought upon this domain and while I don’t expect you to completely understand I just want to make you weary of such dangers. As it is only a due right of me to try to preserve as many fellow beings as possible, I ask that you stay away from any other monsters of the myth variety… My jurisdictions are often complex and are odd in nature, but this one I’m certain is justifiable in any and every nature. Don’t mess with things beyond you, for your own sake and mine. Now that that’s settled I believe we will be off if you ever find need of my gracious assistance again, I suggest asking around, I am quite well known around these parts.” Isaac’s condescending grin remained unfazed as he turned on his heel and left into Olde Town, Ragnar looked back with hesitance but shrugged undaunted by the sudden change in Isaac’s behavior, he quickly followed him.

“What… a weirdo.” Apeiron commented as he quickly hurried to the Headmaster’s building, it had been forever since he had last seen Headmaster Ambrose and he was excited to meet the elderly man once more. Especially now that he could enroll into such a fabled academy. Still, upon entering his destination after running a short distance he found there to be several other students gathered around the crystal orb sitting in the center of the room. In a poof of smoke an owl entered the fray of the crowd flying next to the crystal orb. Coughing in response to the smoke he smiled as he observed the faces of all the new candidates. 

“Welcome, young wizards to the enrollment test! Hoo! I apologize the Headmaster isn’t here, he had to attend a certain party… However, the instructions are quite simple, hoo! Just place your hand on the crystal orb and pour your mana into it! That will decide the orientation of your school, hoo!”” The owl quickly flew to the nearest wizard in line and motioned for them to proceed

“Heh! This’ll be easy!” He tapped his top hat with a black and white wand, his outfit that of a stereotypical magician. He elegantly placed his hands on the orb only for it to dimly shimmer a light green.

“Life School! Hoo!” 

“What?!? No, no, no that’s impossible! I should’ve been storm- the strongest school! Gamma sir, please! Let me have a redo!”

“I’m sorry young wizard, but some things you have to accept.” Gamma patted the distraught boy on the back, the boy's eyes focused onto the background seemingly broken by the revelation. He was quickly escorted out.

“Next! Hoo!” Gamma screeched as a young girl stepped up, she took in a deep breath as she placed her hand on the crystal orb. The orb shined a cyan blue and the girl exasperated in relief. She put her hand on her chest feeling the quick heartbeat running through her veins. The rest of the wizards went through a similar experience, however for some the crystal didn’t glow indicating they had close to no mana, they immediately failed. Finally, the last person’s turn was up, Apeiron’s turn.

“H-here we go…” Apeiron placed his hand on the crystal and it glowed a mixture of blue and yellow, this took Gamma by surprise and the owl chuckled a bit at the sight. 

“Ooooh! Looks like you’re able to choose between two schools, Ice and Myth, hoo! ” Gamma was intrigued by the boy’s decision, but there was no hesitance in the boy’s eyes as he quickly stated his final decision.

“Myth.” Apeiron stated with a grand smile on his face Gamma nodded as he handed Apeiron his first badge and documents just like he had done with the prior wizards, proof of enrollment into Ravenwood Academy. Apeiron was so giddy he ran out of the room before Gamma could have a chance to chat with the boy. He quickly ran home his legs taking him as far as he could in the shortest amount of time as possible. Once he arrived at his home he slammed the door open the brightest smile on his face.

“Gran-Gran! Gran-Gran! Look, look, look! I’ve finally done it! I can become a hero just like the ones in your stories!” Apeiron proclaimed his only response being an eerie silence, his eyes opened to see his grandmother’s figure sat unmoving on the chair. Gulping in fear he quickly ran next to his grandmother and began to inspect her, she wasn’t breathing, and her face looked pale. The boy quickly flew into a panic, he began shaking the corpse rocking the chair back and forth, his tears falling onto their wrinkled hands. His crying finally ceased after a few minutes… he looked at the door behind him, he had dropped the badge and the documents on the floor. His legs barely responded to his movements almost as if it were a dream. The tears continued to perk at the corner of his eyes, the realization had barely hit him just seconds ago. That Gloria Krendell had died and after all that crying he could only make a somber expression as Prince barged into the room.

“APEIRON?!? WHAT’S WRONG! WHY DID I HEAR CRYING?!?” Prince looked at the sullen face on the boy and then at the unmoving figure at the rocking chair. “Oh…”


End file.
